Record Thanksgiving For Air Travel? [Infographic]

This week, the United States is going to experience its largest annual migration. Last year, just over 50 million Americans negotiated long tailbacks on the interstate, fought for seats on buses and battled crowds in airports to make their flights over the course of the Thanksgiving period. 2018 is expected to be even busier with the American Automobile Association forecasting 54.3 million travelers, the vast majority of whom will conduct their journeys by car.

Even though lines of cars stuck for hours bumper to bumper make headlines every year, the skies above all of that traffic are getting busy as well. The growing consensus about the huge numbers on the move is echoed by Airlines for America (A4A) who are expecting 2018 to be a record year for Thanksgiving air travel. During the 12 days around Thanksgiving in 2017, A4A projected 29 million passengers would travel on U.S. airlines. This year's projection stands at 30.6 million passengers which would be an all-time high and up 5.7% on 2017.

A4A defines the Thanksgiving travel period as starting on Friday, November 16th and ending on Sunday, November 26th. During that timeframe, Thanksgiving Day itself is expected to be quietest with 1.73 million passengers nationwide while the Sunday following it will be busiest with 3.06 million people catching flights.